Mystery of the Flamingo's Pink
"Mystery of the Flamingo's Pink" is the first episode of the sixth season of Wild Kratts, and the 139th episode of the series overall. Written by Chris Kratt and directed by Chris Kratt and Chris Roy, the episode originally aired on PBS Kids on April 15, 2019. In the episode, while spending time with her teammates in a Caribbean salt marsh inhabited by Caribbean flamingos, Aviva programs a Flamingo Creature Power Suit. However, when Martin activates Flamingo Power, he ends up with white, not pink, feathers. The Wild Kratts then try to figure out how to turn the suit's feathers from white to pink by first figuring out how the flamingos obtain the vibrant pink that characterizes their feathers. Meanwhile, Gourmand plots to extract the components of the briny salt marsh water and to make money by selling it as seasoning. Plot The episode begins with a live action segment. The Kratt brothers head to Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Scotland Neck, North Carolina, to check out Caribbean flamingos. They highlight key flamingo features, mainly their long and thin legs, long necks, beaks that filter feed, and pink feathers. The Kratt brothers then wonder why flamingo feathers are pink and imagine that they have the creature powers of the flamingo to find out. Afterward, they exclaim "What if?", and the episode transitions into the animated segment. The Wild Kratts are in a Caribbean salt marsh inhabited by Caribbean flamingos. The Kratt brothers and Jimmy Z spend time with the flamingos in the shallow water. They follow a flamingo mother to her nest, where they find a white flamingo chick, which Martin names Pinkster. Aviva and Koki, on the other hand, work together on a Flamingo Creature Power Suit, making sure to add plenty of the pink that characterizes flamingos. Meanwhile, Gourmand is also in the same salt marsh, cooking a stir-fried dish in his kitchen. He scoops up briny water, filters out the components inside, and adds them to his dish as seasoning. After tasting his dish and liking it, he plots to extract the components of the briny salt marsh water and to make money selling it. Aviva and Koki wade through the flock of flamingos and hold up a finished Flamingo Disc in view of the Kratt brothers. The Kratt brothers run towards them and, after a short struggle, Martin grabs the disc. He inserts the disc into his Creature Power Vest, touches a flamingo, and activates Flamingo Power, but ends up with white, not pink, feathers. At first shocked that he does not have pink feathers, Martin nevertheless enjoys his new flamingo features, such as being able to balance himself on one leg and to filter-feed with his beak. To find out what the flamingos are filtering out with their beaks, Chris miniaturizes and dives down into the water, where he finds blue-green algae and brine shrimp that eat the algae. Koki does an analysis of the water and discovers that the algae and brine shrimp have high levels of a class of pigments called carotenoids. When she isolates the carotenoids, the water turns pink. With this new information, Martin picks up the pace, and for two days and two nights, he filer-feeds and absorbs algae and brine shrimp in order to extract their carotenoids. On the third day, Martin's feathers finally turn from white to pink. Meanwhile, Chris, still swimming with the brine shrimp, gets sucked up into one of Gourmand's giant filters. Chris, the algae, and the brine shrimp are then compressed into concentrated brine and poured into jars. The next day, Martin finds out that he and the other flamingos have lost their distinctive pink and now have white feathers. He and his teammates then get a call from Chris, who tells them that Gourmand, by taking the algae and brine shrimp, is responsible for causing the flamingos' feathers to turn from pink to white. The Wild Kratts then make a plan to stop Gourmand. Martin, followed by several flamingos, arrives at Gourmand's plane. He explains to Gourmand that by taking the algae and brine shrimp from the water, he is responsible for causing the flamingos to lose the pink in their feathers. Gourmand laughs at Martin's assertion that algae and brine shrimp are the reason why flamingo feathers are pink, and to distract Martin, he points his finger at the horizon and says "Look! There's a pink gorilla!" Martin gets distracted for long enough for Gourmand to take off in his plane. Aviva finishes a Brine Shrimp Disc and Jimmy teleports the disc to Chris, who activates his suit and expands to human size from his jar. Chris uses his many arms to throw the jars of concentrated brine off Gourmand's plane and to hold back Gourmand by tickling him. Once the last jars are tossed overboard, Chris drops down from Gourmand's plane and is caught by Martin, who takes him back to the salt marIn. At the end, the algae and brine shrimp are returned, and all the flamingos and Martin have their pink feathers restored. The episode transitions into the closing live action segment. The Kratt brothers highlight the flamingo's beak and how flamingos use it to filter-feed. They also spend time with white 5-week-old lesser flamingo chicks. They take the chicks for a walk before concluding the episode by saying "Keep on creature adventuring; we'll see you on the creature trail!" Characters Humans * Chris Kratt (voiced by Chris Kratt) * Martin Kratt (voiced by Martin Kratt) * Aviva Corcovado (voiced by Athena Karkanis) * Koki (voiced by Heather Bambrick) * Jimmy Z (voiced by Jonathan Malen) * Gaston Gourmand (voiced by Zachary Bennett) * Zach Varmitech (mentioned) Animals Animation Note: Featured animals are in bold. * [[American Flamingo|'American Flamingo']] (called Caribbean flamingo): Pinkster * [[American Brine Shrimp|'American Brine Shrimp']] (called brine shrimp) Mentioned * Shrimp * Lobster * Monkey * Gorilla Real Life *Duck *Lesser flamingo Key facts and Creature Moments * Flamingos get there color pink by feeding on the algae from the brine shrimp. * Mother flamingos feed their young a briny red liquid from their esophagus. This liquid is full of digested brine shrimp so the chick can obtain the carotenoids they need to become pink. Trivia * This is their 2nd wading bird based episode, the first being "Blue Heron". Gallery White flamingo Martin calling Chris that he needs his neck untied.jpeg White flamingo Martin in the water.jpeg Hey flamin-guys, mind if I join ya?.jpeg Aviva and Koki get through the flamingo flock.jpeg Pinkster eats from his mom’s beak.jpeg Let’s huddle up!.jpeg Martin with a flamingo.jpeg The WK boys with the flamingos.jpeg Chris and Jimmy with Pinkster.jpeg Martin does the flamingo pose.jpeg Chris with a flamingo.jpeg Martin agrees with an annoyed flamingo.jpeg Flamingoes at sunrise.jpg Martin and Pinkster cuddle.jpeg A554ED51-B3DC-474A-92DA-D3E248453D5F.png 66AD90ED-1F27-423E-AB1E-D1F9CBDF2646.png FP.png FP 2.png FP 3.png FP 4.png FP 5.png FP 6.png FP 7.png FP 8.png FP 9.png FP 10.png FP 11.png FP 12.png FP 13.png FP 14.png FP 15.png FP 16.png FP 17.png FP 18.png FP 19.png FP 20.png FP 21.png FP 22.png White flamingo Martin and Pinkster in the water.jpeg References Category:Episodes written by Chris Kratt Category:Episodes directed by Chris Kratt Category:Episodes directed by Chris Roy Category:Episodes set in North America Category:Episodes with villains Category:Season Six Episodes